Three-dimensional image display apparatus

ABSTRACT

A three-dimensional (3D) image display apparatus includes a display panel and a 3D image optical structure. The display panel has pixels arranged in an array and the pixels have a first region and a second region disposed adjacent to each other. The 3D image optical structure includes a plurality of first optical units disposed along a first direction. Each first optical unit has at least one first portion corresponding to the first region and at least one second portion corresponding to the second region. The first portion has a first curvature radius and a plurality of corresponding first circle centers, and the second portion has a second curvature radius and a plurality of corresponding second circle centers. The first curvature radius is different from the second curvature radius, and the first circle centers are not overlapped with the second circle centers in the vertical projection direction.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-In-Part (CIP) of an earlier filed,pending, application, having application Ser. No. 13/602,014 and filedon Aug. 31, 2012, the content of which, including drawings, is expresslyincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a display apparatus and, inparticular, to a three-dimensional (3D) image display device.

Related Art

In general, three-dimensional (3D) image display apparatuses arecategorized into stereoscopic display apparatuses and autostereoscopicdisplay apparatuses (also referred to naked-eye type 3D image displayapparatuses). Regarding to the stereoscopic display apparatus, the userhas to wear a viewing aid, such as shutter glasses, so that the left andright eyes of the user can receive different images respectively, andthereby perceiving a 3D image. Regarding to the autostereoscopic displayapparatus, a specially designed optical element, such as a parallaxbarrier, is configured so as to allow the display apparatus to providedifferent images to the left and right eyes of a user respectively, sothat the user can perceive a 3D image by naked eyes.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional autostereoscopic displayapparatus 1, which includes a display panel 11 and a parallax barrier12. The display panel 11 includes two substrates 111 and 112, and aliquid crystal layer 113 sandwiched therebetween. In addition, thesubstrate 111 has a pixel array consisting of a plurality of pixels (notshown) disposed thereon. Each pixel corresponds to at least one liquidcrystal cell (e.g. the liquid crystal cell 113 a or 113 b) of the liquidcrystal layer 113. The parallax barrier 12 includes two substrates 121and 122 opposite to each other, liquid crystal cells 123 and 124disposed between the substrates 121 and 122, two sets of stripelectrodes 125 and 126 arranged alternately on a surface of thesubstrate 121, and a surface electrode 127 disposed on a surface of thesubstrate 122.

When the surface electrode 127 and the strip electrode set 125 aregrounded and the strip electrode set 126 is connected to a high voltage,the liquid crystal cells 123 corresponding to the strip electrode set125 are not driven, and the liquid crystal cells 124 corresponding tothe strip electrode set 126 are driven. As such, when the light renderedby the display panel 11 passes through the parallax barrier 12, thelight cannot pass through the driven liquid crystal cells 124 and canmerely pass through the non-driven liquid crystal cells 123. Therefore,the image rendered by the display panel 11 would be transformed into animage with a parallax barrier pattern that is capable of providing aleft-eye image (such as the image from the pixels corresponding to theliquid crystal cells 113 b) and a right-eye image (such as the imagefrom the pixels corresponding to the liquid crystal cells 113 a)respectively to a user's left and right eyes. Upon receiving the signalsof the left- and right-eye images, the user's brain may perceive a 3Dimage.

Nowadays, many display devices can rotate with respect to a base or abody of an electronic device. For example, a display apparatus is undera landscape mode when it is horizontally oriented (that is, the longside of the display apparatus is oriented to be horizontal); otherwise,a display apparatus is under a portrait mode when it is verticallyoriented (that is, the long side of the display apparatus is oriented tobe vertical).

However, the parallax barrier 12 of the conventional 3D image displayapparatus 1 employs liquid crystal cells to form the light-shieldingstructure. When operating under the portrait mode, even if an openingratio of the parallax barrier is optimized to reduce the moiré and colorshift issue, the liquid crystal cells in the proximity of the peripheralof the electrodes may not be rotated completely or the distributionthereof may be uneven. Accordingly, the users may suffer from the colorshift and moiré issues due to the difference of the viewing angles,thereby affecting the entire displaying effect.

Therefore, it is an important subject to provide a 3D image displayapparatus that can reduce the moiré issue and prevent the color shift,thereby improving the displaying effect.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing subject, an objective of the present disclosureis to provide a three-dimensional (3D) image display apparatus that canreduce the moiré issue and prevent the color shift, thereby improvingthe displaying effect.

The present disclosure discloses a three-dimensional (3D) image displayapparatus, comprising a display panel and a 3D image optical structure.The display panel has a plurality of pixels arranged in an array, andthe pixels have a first region and a second region disposed adjacent toeach other. The 3D image optical structure is disposed on one side ofthe display panel and comprises a plurality of first optical unitsdisposed along a first direction. Each of the first optical units has atleast one first portion and at least one second portion. The firstportions of the first optical units correspond to the first region, andthe second portions of the first optical units correspond to the secondregion. The first portion has a first curvature radius and a pluralityof corresponding first circle centers, the second portion has a secondcurvature radius and a plurality of corresponding second circle centers.The first curvature radius is different from the second curvatureradius, and the first circle centers are not overlapped with the secondcircle centers in the vertical projection direction.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention discloses athree-dimensional (3D) image display apparatus, which includes a displaypanel and a 3D image optical structure. The display panel has aplurality of pixels arranged in an array, and the pixels have a firstregion and a second region disposed adjacent to each other. The 3D imageoptical structure is disposed on one side of the display panel andincludes a plurality of first optical units. The first optical units aredisposed along a first direction, and each of the first optical unitshas at least one first portion and at least one second portion. Each ofthe first portions of the first optical units corresponds to the firstregion, and each of the second portions of the first optical unitscorresponds to the second region. The first portion is asymmetric to anaxis that is orthogonal to the display panel and the second portion isalso asymmetric to the axis.

As mentioned above, in the 3D image display apparatus of the disclosure,the first portion has a first curvature radius and the second portionhas a second curvature radius, and the first curvature radius isdifferent from the second curvature radius. Otherwise, the first portionis asymmetric to an axis that is orthogonal to the display panel and thesecond portion is also asymmetric to the axis. Accordingly, thisinvention can reduce the moiré issue of optical interference and avoidthe color shift, thereby improving the display effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will become more fully understood from the detaileddescription and accompanying drawings, which are given for illustrationonly, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional autostereoscopic displayapparatus;

FIGS. 2A to 2C are schematic diagrams showing a 3D image displayapparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 3A to 3C are schematic diagrams showing another 3D image displayapparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are schematic diagrams showing various aspects of thefirst optical unit according to the embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams showing another 3D image displayapparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are schematic diagrams showing another 3D image displayapparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another 3D image display apparatusaccording to the embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram showing another 3D image displayapparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8B is a sectional view of another 3D image display apparatusaccording to the embodiment of the disclosure along the line AA;

FIG. 8C is a sectional view of another 3D image display apparatusaccording to the embodiment of the disclosure along the line AA;

FIG. 8D is a schematic optical diagram of the virtual lens of the 3Dimage display apparatus of FIG. 8C;

FIG. 8E is a schematic sectional diagram of another embodiment takenalong the line BB in FIG. 8A;

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram showing another 3D image displayapparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9B is a sectional view of FIG. 9A along the line CC;

FIG. 9C is a sectional view of FIG. 9A along the line DD; and

FIG. 9D is an optical diagram of the virtual lens of the 3D imagedisplay apparatus of FIG. 9A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the followingdetailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are schematic diagrams showing a three-dimensional (3D)image display apparatus 2 according to a preferred embodiment of thedisclosure. The 3D image display apparatus 2 includes a display panel 21and a 3D image optical structure 22. In practice, the display panel 21can be any device for displaying two-dimensional image such as a LCDpanel, an electroluminescent display panel, or an electrophoreticdisplay panel.

In this embodiment, the display panel 21 is a LCD panel, which has twoopposite substrates 211 and 212, and a plurality of pixels P. The pixelsP are disposed between the substrates 211 and 212, and arranged in anarray. Each pixel P includes three sub-pixels R, G and B, and the pixelsP sequentially provide the left-eye image and the right-eye imageaccording to their positions. Of course, each pixel P may include two,four or more sub-pixels. The display panel 21 outputs image data and isa means for providing image data.

The display panel 21 may further include a polarizing plate (not shown),which is disposed on one surface of the substrate 211 or 212. Inaddition, the display panel 21 may further include a color filter plate(not shown) for displaying the two-dimensional colorful images. Inoperation, a light source (e.g. a backlight module) is configured at thelight input surface of the display panel 21. The materials andconfigurations of the polarizing plate, color filter plate and/orbacklight module are well known to those skilled persons, so thedetailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The 3D image optical structure 22 is disposed at one side of the displaypanel 21 and has a plurality of first optical units 221 disposedadjacent to each other. The first optical units 221 are disposed on thedisplay panel 21 along a first direction D1. Each first optical unit 221has a first portion 2211 corresponding to a first region R1 of thepixels P and a second portion 2212 corresponding to a second region R2of the pixels P. The second portion 2212 is disposed adjacent to thefirst portion 2211 and disposed along the first direction D1. In moredetailed, a region of the pixels P covered by the vertical projection ofthe first portions 2211 of the first optical units 221 is defined as thefirst region R1, and a region of the pixels P covered by the verticalprojection of the second portions 2212 of the first optical units 221 isdefined as the second region R2. In this embodiment, a width of thefirst region R1 and a width of the second region R2 are equal to thewidth of two pixels P, respectively, and an area of the first region R1is equal to an area of the second region R2. To be noted, the firstoptical units 221 are arranged in slant on the display panel. That is, along side of each first optical unit 221 and a long axis of the firstregion R1 form a non-zero included angle, which is preferred arctan(⅓)or arctan(⅙).

In this embodiment, each first optical unit 221 is an optical lens, suchas a lenticular lens, and the first portion 2211 and the second portion2212 have protrusions opposite to the display panel 21 with differentcurvature radiuses. A first curvature radius Ra of the first portion2211 is larger than a second curvature radius Rb of the second portion2212. The first curvature radius Ra of the first portion 2211corresponds to a plurality of first circle centers C1, and the secondcurvature radius Rb of the second portion 2212 corresponds to aplurality of second circle centers C2. Herein, the first curvatureradius Ra is different from the second curvature radius Rb, and thefirst circle centers C1 are not overlapped with the second circlecenters C2 in the vertical projection direction. Thus, a lineconstructed by the first circle centers C1 and a line constructed by thesecond circle centers C2 are parallel, while the first circle centers C1and the second circle centers C2 are vertically projected in the sameplane. Regarding to the first portion 2211, the light is projected tothe pixel P in the focus-out method. In other words, the first region R1and the second region R2 will have different light transmittance ratios.The second region R2 corresponding to the second portion 2212 hassmaller effective aperture ratio via the optical lens, and the firstregion R1 corresponding to the first portion 2211 has larger effectiveaperture ratio via the optical lens. The compensation of the apertureratios of adjacent regions R1 and R2 can effectively reduce the moiréissue and prevent the color shift. Therefore, the 3D image opticalstructure 22 is a means for compensating aperture ratios.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are schematic diagrams showing another 3D image displayapparatus 3 according to the embodiment of the disclosure. Differentfrom the 3D image display apparatus 2, the 3D image display apparatus 3includes a 3D image optical structure 31, which is different from the 3Dimage optical structure 22 of the 3D image display apparatus 2.

The 3D image optical structure 31 comprises a first substrate 311, aplurality of first optical units 312, a plurality of second opticalunits 313, a second substrate 314 and a liquid crystal layer 315. Thefirst optical units 312 are disposed on one side of the first substrate311 along the first direction D1, and each of the first optical units312 is electrically connected to each other. The second optical units313 are disposed along the first direction D1 and interlaced with thefirst optical units 312 on the same side of the first substrate 311, andeach of the second optical units 313 is electrically connected to eachother. The second substrate 314 is opposite to the first substrate 311,and the liquid crystal layer 315 is disposed between the first substrate311 and the second substrate 314.

Each of the first substrate 311 and the second substrate 314 is atransparent substrate, such as a glass substrate. Each of the firstoptical units 312 and the second optical units 313 is a transparentelectrode, which can be made of, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO),indium zinc oxide (IZO), fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), aluminum zincoxide (AZO), gallium zinc oxide (GZO), ZnO, or SnO₂. In practice, twosets of alternately arranged transparent electrodes (not shown) areconfigured on the second substrate 314, and the material of thetransparent electrodes is the same as that of the first optical units312 and the second optical units 313.

Each first optical unit 312 has a plurality of first portions 3121corresponding to a first region R1 of the pixels P and a plurality ofsecond portions 3122 corresponding to a second region R2 of the pixelsP. In more detailed, the first region R1 is a region including twopixels P, and the second region R2 is region including two additionalpixels P and located adjacent to the first region R1. In thisembodiment, the length of the first portion 3121 is a length of a pixelP, and the width thereof is a width of a pixel P (or the width of threesub-pixels). Besides, the length of the second portion 3122 is a lengthof a pixel P, and the width thereof is a width of two sub-pixels. Inother words, a width along the first direction D1 of the first portion3121 is not equal to a width along the first direction D1 of the secondportion 3122, and an area of the first portion 3121 is not equal to anarea of the second portion 3122.

When the light passes through the first optical unit 312, the ranges ofthe first region R1 and the second region R2 irradiated by the light aredifferent due to that the first portion 3121 and the second portion 3122have different areas. Accordingly, the first region R1 and the secondregion R2 will have different light transmittance ratios in total. Thefirst region R1 corresponding to the first portion 3121 has largeraperture ratio, and the second region R2 corresponding to the secondportion 3122 has smaller aperture ratio. The compensation of theaperture ratios of adjacent regions R1 and R2 can effectively reduce themoiré issue and prevent the color shift.

In this case, a first portion 3121 and a second portion 3122 togetherconstruct an optical element E, and a plurality of the optical element Econnected to each other construct one first optical unit 312. As shownin FIG. 3C, the first portion 3121 and the second portion 3122 of asingle optical element E have the same center axis (or a symmetricalaxis), and a plurality of optical elements E sequentially shift for afirst interval A1 along the first direction D1. Herein, a width of thefirst interval A1 is equal to the width of a sub-pixel. In other words,the interval between the center axes of two connected optical elements Eis equal to the width of a sub-pixel.

The structure of the second optical unit 313 is a reversed pattern ofthe first optical unit 312. Accordingly, when the first optical unit312, the second optical unit 313 and the liquid crystal layer 315 areemployed as the light shielding structure, a high voltage level isapplied to the second optical unit 313 as a low voltage level is appliedto the first optical unit 312.

To be noted, in this embodiment, the 3D image optical structure 31 isdisposed on the display panel 21. However, in practice, it is possibleto change their relative positions. For example, the 3D image opticalstructure 31 can also be disposed between the display panel 21 and thebacklight module. Besides, the dimensions of the above-mentioned firstportion 3121, second portion 3122, first region R1 and second region R2are for illustrations only and are not to limit the disclosure. Thespecifications and dimensions of these components can be varieddepending to the requirements of products and designs.

In practice, the first optical unit and the second optical unit of the3D image optical structure may have various aspects. In one aspect, thefirst optical unit and the second optical unit usually have similarstructure but have the first and second portions in opposite arrangingsequences. Thus, referring to FIGS. 4A to 4C, the following descriptionswill illustrate the first optical unit only. Herein, FIGS. 4A to 4C areschematic diagrams showing various aspects of the first optical unitaccording to the embodiment of the disclosure.

Different from the above-mentioned first optical unit 312, as shown inFIG. 4A, the width of the first portion 41 of the first optical unit 4Ais equal to the width of 2.5 sub-pixels, and the width of the secondportion 42 is equal to the width of 1.5 sub-pixels. In this case, afirst portion 41 and a second portion 42 together construct an opticalelement E. The first portion 41 and the second portion 42 of a singleoptical element E have the same center axis, and a plurality of opticalelements E sequentially shift along the first direction D1. Herein, theoptical elements E are shifted for the width of a sub-pixel.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the first optical unit 4B has a plurality of firstportions 43 corresponding to a first region R1 of the pixels and aplurality of second portions 44 corresponding to a second region R2 ofthe pixels. The first region R1 is a region containing upper regions oftwo pixels, and the second region R2 is a region containing down regionsof the two pixels. In this aspect, the length of the first portion 43 isequal to the length of 0.5 pixels P, and the width thereof is equal tothe width of 3 sub-pixels; otherwise, the length of the second portion44 is equal to the length of 0.5 pixels P, and the width thereof isequal to the width of 2 sub-pixels.

In addition, a first portion 43 and a second portion 44 togetherconstruct an optical element E. The first portion 43 and the secondportion 44 of a single optical element E have the same center axis, anda plurality of optical elements E sequentially shift along the firstdirection D1. Herein, the optical elements E are shifted for the widthof a sub-pixel. The optical elements E of a single first optical unit 4Bare normally and reversely arranged in sequence and connected. Besides,the optical elements E of two adjacent first optical units 4B arearranged in opposite.

Different from the first optical unit 4B, as shown in FIG. 4C, the widthof the first portion 45 of the first optical unit 4C is equal to thewidth of 2.5 sub-pixels, and the width of the second portion 46 thereofis equal to the width of 1.5 sub-pixels. In practice, the widths of thefirst and second portions can be varied according to the actual needs,and the widths thereof can be an integral or non-integral times of thewidth of the sub-pixel.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams showing another 3D image displayapparatus 5 according to the embodiment of the disclosure. The 3D imagedisplay apparatus 5 includes a display panel 21 and a 3D image opticalstructure 51. The 3D image optical structure 51 is disposed on one sideof the display panel 21 and includes a plurality of first optical units511 disposed on the display panel 21 along a first direction D1. Each ofthe first optical units 511 has a plurality of optical elements E, andeach of the optical elements E has a first portion 5111 and a secondportion 5112 disposed adjacent to each other.

The first portion 5111 corresponds to a first region R1 of the pixel P,and the second portion 5112 corresponds to a second region R2 of thepixel P. In more detailed, a region of the pixels P covered by thevertical projection of the first portions 5111 of the first opticalunits 511 is defined as the first region R1, and a region of the pixelsP covered by the vertical projection of the second portions 5112 of thefirst optical units 511 is defined as the second region R2. In thisembodiment, the lengths of the first region R1 and the second region R2are equal to the length of a pixel P, and the widths thereof are equalto the width of two pixels P (also equal to the width of sixsub-pixels).

In this aspect, a center axis of each of the optical elements E of eachfirst optical unit 511 are disposed adjacent to each other and aresequentially shifted by a first interval A1 toward the first directionD1. A center axis of the first portion 5111 is shifted for a secondinterval A2 with respect to the center axis of the optical element Etoward the first direction D1. A center axis of the second portion 5112is shifted for a third interval A3 with respect to the center axis ofthe optical element E toward a second direction D2. A width of the firstinterval A1 is equal to the width of a sub-pixel, and a width of thesecond interval A2 and a width of the third interval A3 are equal to thewidth of one quarter of sub-pixel, respectively. Herein, the firstdirection D1 and the second direction D2 are opposite directions. Inthis embodiment, the first portion 5111 and the second portion 5112 ofeach optical element E of the first optical unit 511 are optical lenses,and they have multiple protrusions with different shift direction on theside opposite to the display panel 21.

As mentioned above, since the second portion 5112 of each opticalelement E of the 3D image optical structure 51 is shifted toward thesecond direction D2 with respect to the first portion 5111, theeffective aperture positions of the first region R1 and thecorresponding second region R2 are misaligned. This configuration caneffectively reduce the moiré issue by compensation and prevent the colorshift. Therefore, the 3D image optical structure 51 is a means forshifting aperture positions.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are schematic diagrams showing another 3D image displayapparatus 6 according to the embodiment of the disclosure. Differentfrom the 3D image display apparatus 5, the 3D image display apparatus 6includes a 3D image optical structure 61, which is different from the 3Dimage optical structure 51 of the 3D image display apparatus 5. The 3Dimage optical structure 61 includes a first substrate 611, a pluralityof first optical units 612, a plurality of second optical units 613, asecond substrate 614 and a liquid crystal layer 615.

The first optical units 612 are disposed on one side of the firstsubstrate 611 along the first direction D1, and each of the firstoptical units 612 is electrically connected to each other. The secondoptical units 613 are disposed along the first direction D1 andinterlaced with the first optical units 612 on the same side of thefirst substrate 611, and each of the second optical units 613 iselectrically connected to each other. The second substrate 614 isopposite to the first substrate 611, and the liquid crystal layer 615 isdisposed between the first substrate 611 and the second substrate 614.

Each of the first substrate 611 and the second substrate 614 is atransparent substrate, such as a glass substrate. Each of the firstoptical units 612 and the second optical units 613 is a transparentelectrode, which can be made of, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO),indium zinc oxide (IZO), fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), aluminum zincoxide (AZO), gallium zinc oxide (GZO), ZnO, or SnO₂. In practice, twosets of alternately arranged transparent electrodes (not shown) areconfigured on the second substrate 614, and the material of thetransparent electrodes is the same as that of the first optical units612 and the second optical units 613.

Each first optical unit 612 has a plurality of optical elements E, andeach optical element E includes a first portion 6121 corresponding to afirst region R1 of the pixel P and a second portion 6122 correspondingto a second region R2 of the pixel P. The first region R1 is a regioncontaining two pixels P, and the second region R2, which is disposedadjacent to the first region R1, is a region also containing two pixelsP. In this embodiment, the dimensions of the first portion 6121 and thesecond portion 6122 are the same. In more detailed, the length thereofis equal to the length of a pixel P, and the width thereof is equal tothe width of 2.5 sub-pixels. In other words, an area of the firstportion 6121 is equal to an area of the second portion 6122, and a widthalong the first direction D1 of the first portion 6121 is equal to awidth along the first direction D1 of the second portion 6122.

A center axis X1 of each of the optical elements E of each first opticalunit 612 are sequentially shifted by a first interval A1 toward thefirst direction D1, and a width of the first interval A1 is equal to thewidth of one sub-pixel. A center axis X2 of the first portion 6121 isshifted for a second interval A2 with respect to the center axis X1 ofthe optical element E toward the first direction D1. A center axis X3 ofthe second portion 6122 is shifted for a third interval A3 with respectto the center axis X1 of the optical element E toward a second directionD2. For example, the second interval A2 and the third interval A3 areequal to the width of 0.25 sub-pixels, respectively. Herein, the firstdirection D1 and the second direction D2 are opposite directions. Asmentioned above, the second portion 6122 of each optical element E isshifted toward the second direction D2 with respect to the first portion6121. This configuration can effectively reduce the moiré issue bycompensation and prevent the color shift.

In addition, the structure of the second optical unit 613 is a reversedpattern of the first optical unit 612. So the detailed descriptionsthereof will be omitted. Besides, the dimensions of the above-mentionedfirst portion 6121, second portion 6122, first region R1 and secondregion R2 are for illustrations only and are not to limit thedisclosure. The specifications and dimensions of these components can bevaried depending to the requirements of products and designs.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another 3D image display apparatus7 according to the embodiment of the disclosure. Different from the 3Dimage display apparatus 6, the 3D image display apparatus 7 includes a3D image optical structure 71 having a first optical unit 711 and asecond optical unit 712, which are different from the first optical unit612 and the second optical unit 613. Since the structure of the secondoptical unit 712 is opposite to that of the first optical unit 711, onlythe first optical unit 711 will be described as below.

In each optical element E of the first optical unit 711 of thisembodiment, the first region R1 corresponding to the first portion 7111contains the upper regions of two pixels, and the second region R2corresponding to the second portion 7112 contains down regions of thesame two pixels. The length of the first portion 7111 is equal to thelength of 0.5 pixels P, and the width thereof is equal to the width of2.5 sub-pixels. In addition, the length of the second portion 7112 isequal to the length of 0.5 pixels P, and the width thereof is equal tothe width of 2.5 sub-pixels. The optical elements E of two adjacentfirst optical units 711 have opposite configuration sequence.

Besides the above mentioned optical lens (physical lens), moreembodiments, which can adjust the voltages applied to each of theelectrodes so as to cause the rotation of the arrangement of the liquidcrystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer of the optical structures.These additional embodiments can also achieve the optical effect similarto the previous embodiment.

This configuration at least has the advantage of providing a flexibleoptical effect so as to adjust the optical effect depending on variousproducts. Besides, the cost and difficulty for manufacturing thephysical optical lens are relatively higher. On the contrary, thepresent embodiment does not need the physical optical lens, so the 3Dimage display apparatus of the invention can be thinner, lighter andeasily fabricated, and have lower manufacturing cost.

Besides, an additional advantage of these embodiments is to provide moreapplication flexible. For example, when the 3D image display apparatusis set up, it is still possible to adjust between different visualeffects according to different machines, user favorites, detectingresults of eye tracking devices, or time sequences.

FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram showing another 3D image displayapparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure. FIGS. 8B and 8Care schematic sectional views of other embodiments taken along the lineAA in FIG. 8A. FIG. 8D is a schematic optical diagram of the virtuallens of the 3D image device in FIG. 8C. FIG. 8E is a schematic sectionaldiagram of another embodiment taken along the line BB in FIG. 8A.

With reference to FIGS. 8A to 8E, the 3D image optical structure 81includes a first substrate 811 and a plurality of first electrode set812. The 3D image optical structure 81 further includes a plurality ofsecond electrode set 813, a second substrate 814 and a liquid crystallayer 815. The second substrate 814 is disposed opposite to the firstsubstrate 811, and the liquid crystal layer 815 is positioned betweenthe first substrate 811 and the second substrate 814. The first andsecond electrode sets 812 and 813 include a plurality of transparentstrip-like electrodes or the electrodes of other types.

Similar to the above embodiment, the transparent substrate is, forexample, a glass substrate. The transparent electrode can be made of,for example but not limited to, indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zincoxide (IZO), fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO), aluminum zinc oxide (AZO),gallium zinc oxide (GZO), ZnO, or SnO₂.

Referring to FIG. 8A, the first electrode set 812 is disposed on theside of the first substrate 811 facing the liquid crystal layer 815. Thesecond electrode set 813 is disposed on the side of the second substrate814 facing the liquid crystal layer 815. The second electrode set 813and the first electrode set 812 cross each other.

To be noted, each of the strip-like electrodes of the second electrodeset 813 is arranged in a slant manner on the display panel 21. That is,a non-zero included angle is formed between each of the strip-likeelectrodes of the first electrode set 812 and each of the strip-likeelectrodes of the second electrode set 813, and the non-zero includedangle is favorably arctan(⅓), arctan( 5/12), arctan(¼) or arctan(⅙).

With reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B, an aspect of this embodiment is toadjust the voltage between the first electrode set 812 and the secondelectrode set 813 so as to cause the rotation of the liquid crystal ofthe liquid crystal layer 815 to form the effect similar to the virtualoptical lens. In other words, by applying a specific voltage to thefirst and second electrode sets 812 and 813, the liquid crystal layer815 can form virtual lens structures, which are equivalent to theabove-mentioned optical units.

In this embodiment, when the display apparatus operates in the landscapemode, the voltage of each of the strip-like electrodes of the firstelectrode set 812 can be fixed at 0V while the voltage of each of thestrip-like electrodes E1˜E12 of the second electrode set 813 can beadjusted as the following table.

TABLE 1 electrode E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 Voltage (V) 5 2 0.5 0.1 0.5 2 5electrode E8 E9 E10 E11 E12 Voltage (V) 0.5 0.1 0.5 2 5

When the voltage of each of the strip-like electrodes E1˜E12 of thesecond electrode set 813 is adjusted as the table 1, the liquid crystallayer 815 will form the lens structures (optical units) shown in FIG.8B, and the optical units have the first portions Ra′ and the secondportions Rb′. The first portion Ra′ corresponds to the first regions R1of the pixels P of the display panel 21, and the second portion Rb′corresponds to the second regions R2 of the pixels P.

In another embodiment, the voltage of each of the strip-like electrodesof the first electrode set 812 can be still fixed at 0V while the secondvoltage of each of the strip-like electrodes E1˜E12 of the secondelectrode set 813 can be adjusted as the following table.

TABLE 2 electrode E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 Voltage (V) 5 2 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.5 2electrode E8 E9 E10 E11 E12 Voltage (V) 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.5 5

When the voltage of each of the strip-like electrodes of the secondelectrode set 813 is adjusted as the table 2, the first portion Ra′ andthe second portion Rb′ of the lens structures formed in the liquidcrystal layer 815 are as shown in FIG. 8C. In this embodiment, the firstportion Ra′ is asymmetric to a second axis 8121 a that is orthogonal tothe display panel 21, and the second portion Rb′ is asymmetric to afirst axis 8122 a that is orthogonal to the display panel 21. In otherwords, the first portion Ra′ and the second portion Rb′ are disposedtogether as if two cut-off lens are connected to each other. Therefore,the light passing through the lens structure (optical unit) can beslightly shifted to the center of the 3D image optical structure 81 (sothat the image can be more concentrated). Hence, the moiré issue and thecolor shift problem caused by different viewing angles of the user canbe improved.

Moreover, when the display apparatus operates in the portrait mode, thevoltage of each of the strip-like electrodes of the second electrode set813 can be fixed at 0V and the voltage of each of the strip-likeelectrodes of the first electrode set 812 is adjusted as the table 1,and then the lens structure as shown in FIG. 8E will be formed in theliquid crystal layer 815.

Accordingly, by adjusting the voltage difference between the first andsecond electrode sets 812 and 813, the liquid crystal of the liquidcrystal layer 815 in different regions can be provided with differentrotation direction to achieve the optical effect of virtual lens.

To be noted, the first portion Ra′ and the second portion Rb′ in thefigure are the appearance of virtual optical lenses. These virtuallenses are used to explain the technology of the invention and are notreal components.

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram showing another 3D image displayapparatus according to the embodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 9B is asectional view of FIG. 9A along the line CC, FIG. 9C is a sectional viewof FIG. 9A along the line DD, and FIG. 9D is an optical diagram of thevirtual lens of the 3D image display apparatus of FIG. 9A.

Similar to the above embodiment, the 3D image optical structure 91 ofthis embodiment can adjust the voltage between the first electrode set912 and the second electrode set 913 so as to control the liquid crystalmolecules of the liquid crystal layer in different regions to rotate todifferent directions, thereby achieving the optical effect of virtuallenses.

In this embodiment, the voltage U1 of the first strip-like electrodes9121 of the first electrode set 912 is fixed at 0V and the voltage U2 ofthe second strip-like electrodes 9122 of the first electrode set 912 isfixed at 2V, and the voltage of each of the strip-like electrodes E1˜E6of the second electrode set 913 is adjusted as the table 3. When theabove-mentioned voltages are applied to the electrodes, the liquidcrystal layer corresponding to the first strip-like electrodes 9121 willform the lens structure (optical unit) as shown in FIG. 9B while theliquid crystal layer corresponding to the second strip-like electrodes9122 will form the lens structure (optical unit) as shown in FIG. 9C.The first curvature radius fc of the lens Rc′ corresponding to the firststrip-like electrode 9121 is different from the second curvature radiusfd of the lens Rd′ corresponding to the second strip-like electrode9122, and the first curvature radius fc is shorter than the secondcurvature radius fd. Besides, the centers of the lenses Rc′ and Rd′don't overlap each other in a vertical projection direction (not shown).

TABLE 3 electrode E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 voltage (V) 5 2 0.2 0 0.2 2

Herein, the example is given by that the first strip-like electrodes9121 and the second strip-like electrodes 9122 are disposed alternately.In other words, the strip-like electrodes of the first electrode set 912are alternately provided with the voltages U1 and U2. In otherembodiments, the application manner of the voltages U1 and U2 can beadjusted, such as two or more first strip-like electrodes 9121 and twoor more second strip-like electrodes 9122 are disposed alternately.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limitingsense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well asalternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art.It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover allmodifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A three-dimensional (3D) image display apparatus,comprising: a display panel having a plurality of pixels arranged in anarray, wherein the pixels have a first region and a second regiondisposed adjacent to each other, and each pixel includes at least twosub-pixels; and a 3D image optical structure disposed on one side of thedisplay panel and comprising: a plurality of first optical unitsdisposed along a first direction, wherein each of the first opticalunits has at least one first portion and at least one second portion,the first portion has a first center plane, the second portion has asecond center plane, and the first center plane and the second centerplane are perpendicular to the display panel; wherein the first portionsof the first optical units correspond to the first region, the secondportions of the first optical units correspond to the second region, thefirst portion is asymmetric with respect to the first center plane, andthe second portion is asymmetric with respect to the second centerplane, the first region corresponds to two sub-pixels and the secondregion corresponds to another two sub-pixels.
 2. The 3D image displayapparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the first optical units is anoptical lens.
 3. The 3D image display apparatus of claim 1, wherein awidth of the first region is substantially equal to the width of twosub-pixels, and a width of the second region is substantially equal tothe width of two sub-pixels.
 4. The 3D image display apparatus of claim1, wherein the first optical units are disposed adjacent to each other.5. The 3D image display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second portionis disposed adjacent to the first portion and disposed along the firstdirection.
 6. The 3D image display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the 3Dimage optical structure further comprises: a first substrate; a secondsubstrate opposite to the first substrate; and a liquid crystal layerdisposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; whereinthe side of the first substrate facing the liquid crystal layer isconfigured with a first electrode set, the side of the second substratefacing the liquid crystal layer is configured with a second electrodeset, and when a potential difference exists between the first electrodeset and the second electrode set, a plurality of lens structures areformed in the liquid crystal layer and equivalent to the first opticalunits, wherein the first electrode set includes a plurality of firststrip-like electrodes, the second electrode set includes a plurality ofsecond strip-like electrodes, and the first electrode set and the secondelectrode set cross each other.
 7. The 3D image display apparatus ofclaim 6, wherein a non-zero included angle is formed between each of thefirst strip-like electrodes of the first electrode set and each of thesecond strip-like electrodes of the second electrode set, and thenon-zero included angle is arctan(⅓), arctan( 5/12), arctan(¼) orarctan(⅙).
 8. The 3D image display apparatus of claim 6, wherein thefirst electrode set further includes a plurality of second strip-likeelectrodes, which are disposed alternately with the plurality of firststrip-like electrodes.
 9. The 3D image display apparatus of claim 8,wherein the liquid crystal layer corresponding to the plurality of firststrip-like electrodes of the first electrode set forms at least onefirst lens structure, and the first lens structure has a first curvatureradius, and the liquid crystal layer corresponding to the plurality ofsecond strip-like electrodes of the first electrode set forms at leastone second lens structure, the second lens structure has a secondcurvature radius, and the first curvature radius is different from thesecond curvature radius.